


Red Ledger

by aguwustdick (sugandrew)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bonding, KSKSKS, The bonding we want but don't deserve, some five/klaus bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 23:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18226853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugandrew/pseuds/aguwustdick
Summary: Five and Klaus bond a little about their traumas over a cup of coffee. Also talk about how gross Reginald is.





	Red Ledger

Five spent a good few years in The Commission killing, I mean, fixing the timeline. He was very good at his job, and it had some perks, as much as he hated to admit it.

He had a salary, decent food like takeout, or diner burgers instead of cockroaches and _very_ old canned beans, a decent bed and he could work to get back home to his family. But the bad things covered those things that for most people were basic stuff, but for him were a beautiful change.

A single gunshot. Then chaos. People were screaming, crying, _dying_ . Everything was so loud, too loud, he couldn’t _think_ , he couldn’t _breathe_ , ghosts were holding him, pulling him under the ground, directly to hell, where he was supposed to go fifteen years ago.

Someone grabbed his shoulders and started to shake him. When he looked at his brother Klaus he did it through a telescopic sight. Then he blinked and it disappeared.

“Why are you in my room?” Five asked pushing Klaus’ hands away from his body like they were burning.

“I called you from the hallway for like five minutes and you didn't answer, even when I called you Timmy, so something was obviously wrong.” Before he could keep explaining Five interrupted him.

“You called me _Timmy_?” The name rolled on his tongue like poison.

“Really, that's what you took out of what I just said. Okay, moving on, when I got in you were staring at the wall, shaking like a leaf, I tried to talk you out of it but you weren't listening so I had to touch you. I'm sorry.”

Five moved and the sheets rustled around him. “It's fine. Thank you.”

Klaus sighed. “I know that you're going to say no, but do you want to talk about it?”

His brother blinked. “I was remembering my time at The Commission.” He exhaled. “I had to kill so many people. There was death around me, it was horrible.” Klaus nodded in understanding.

“I went to Vietnam when I accidentally travelled in time. It was horrible.” They both stayed in a sad silence.

“I was doing it with a purpose. It was an investment, and it was going to happen anyways, if I didn’t do it someone else would. At least that's what I told myself. I could see the life of the people in front of me draining, leaving, escaping. That's not easy to forget, is it?” Five sat hugging his legs.

Klaus sighed, voice slightly shaking. “No. No, it's not. I found the love of my life and I lost him in less than a year.”

“What was his name?”

“His name was Dave.”

“That's a really pretty name.” Klaus nodded. “He probably was a very interesting man if he put up with your ass for ten months.” He wasn't expecting his brother to remember the time he spent in 1968.

“He was.” he sighed, “I miss him every second.” Five snorted.

“Do you want to grab some coffee?” He said, hastily. Klaus couldn't believe his ears.

“You want to have some coffee with _me_?”

“I'm sorry. It was just an idea, it's okay if you don't want to.” A ghost hand went through his shoulder.

“No! No. I didn’t mean it in that way, of course I'd want to, I'm just surprised.” He got up and his brother followed him.

“Do you know any places? I haven't been here in fifteen years, and there weren't any coffee shops open then.” Did Five just try to make a joke? That's amazing. Klaus snorted.

“I do, yeah.” And there they went.

Five indirectly guided him to the park (he needed to see some green without a rifle in his hand), cups of coffee in their hands and a lot of catching up to do.

“What happened when I left?” It's good to start with a light and calm subject, isn't it.

“The house felt empty since then, and Ben became the reason we all stayed together. We got in truces thanks to him when dad was too busy to force Allison to rumor us. Remember that you used to jump between us and yell at us about how stupid our argument was until we calmed down? We didn't have that anymore. So when Ben died we all became ‘strangers living under the same roof’ as Vanya said. Kinda. I don't remember. It was just a matter of time, then we all left the nest until the old papa died.” Klaus stopped to remember. “Vanya was so alone. Dad put that frame to remind us what pride could do to you, not to remember you.” Five snorted.

“That's what I thought. I saw your bodies. Not all of them. Just the four of you. I read that Ben died so there was one sibling missing. Vanya. When I came back she was the first person I talked to, and left without saying goodbye, then pushed her away. When I heard that she was with the man that was going to cause the apocalypse I thought I was going to fall apart right there, I really did.” He took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee. “I used to dream about her in the apocalypse. Maybe she had been there with me all this time and I just didn't see her. When I started working in The Commission I saw her wandering alone, calling me.” He stopped for a second to clear his throat. “I still see her in my dreams, but she's the white violin. Her suit was stained with ashes, her bow was dripping with blood, and she was looking at your bodies. Sometimes I’m there with you, chest open and still, feeling how I was getting colder and colder, and sometimes I was looking from far away, and I wasn't feeling anything, because it was meant to be. You were not my family anymore.” He coughed, trying to take that lump out of his throat. Klaus noticed that he was breaking apart and decided to talk to give him time to put himself back together.

“Dad locked me in a mausoleum, I don't know if you were there when it happened. He said I had to get over my fear of ghosts so he locked me with a lot of old and angry deads. They all screamed my name, asked for help, asked _me_ for help. I couldn't scream anymore. He opened the door and asked me if I was ready to get out, then he saw my face and closed the door again. I will never forget the sound the door made and what it meant.” He laughed. Ben whispered at him to calm him down, he said that he was proud. It had been hard and he did it. Sober. _‘Look how far you've come, Klaus. You should be proud of yourself.’_

“Klaus, you're crying.” Five said, straightening up in the bench. “Hey, hey. Fuck, how do people do this shit?” He looked lost, like, really lost. Eventually, his brother calmed down.

“I see Ben.” Klaus said sniffling “I've seen him since his funeral.”

Five looked like he saw a ghost. Ironically. “Ben? _Our_ Ben?”

In a normal situation he would've laughed at him, but he hadn't seen their brother in forty five years, he needed a little bit of empathy. “Yes. Our Ben. I remember that I looked at my right when they were putting the empty urn in the statue, and he was there, looking at his face sculpted in the black stone. “‘It doesn’t even look like me’ He said.” Klaus laughed, his laugh stained with tears. “I didn’t know what to say.” After calming down a little he continued, voice more serious and posture stiffer. “Dad trash talked about you in the funeral. He said that unlike you, who presumably died thanks to your pride, Ben died on a mission, just like it should be. We couldn’t believe our ears. He was talking shit about our probably dead brother when we’re grieving our _actually_ dead brother. He was a heartless monster.” Five scoffed.

“I’m not even surprised.” He couldn’t stop thinking about the empty urn, but he didn’t know if it was okay to ask. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, or if… Ben doesn’t want to, but why was the urn empty?” His brother thought about it for a second, maybe looking at Ben, but he wasn’t sure.

“There was nothing to cremate. Nothing. It was just gone, poof.” He simulated an explosion with his hands. Five nodded in understanding.

“I can’t stop thinking that if I hadn’t been so proud Ben could still be alive.”

“I know.” Klaus answered, also nodding.

“How do you know?” He looked at his brother.

“You scream his name sometimes. In your sleep.” He coughed.

“I _scream_ in my _sleep_?”

“Pretty much, yeah. It makes it hard to sleep sometimes.” Five’s face was shaded with guilt, it was unusual, but after the conversation they had it wasn’t that uncharacteristic. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding, I’m sorry. It just worries me a lot.” He looked at the sky. “Hey, it’s a little cold, can we go back to the mansion?” He hadn’t noticed until Klaus pointed it out, how long had they been talking?

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.”

As they walked retracing their steps, they stayed in a comfortable silence, everything felt at peace. They knew each other better, they understood each other better. They were human, flawed and fucked up, really fucked up, and in that broad category they shared a lot of stuff, like killing to survive or being treated like a disappointment by your father, even if you weren’t there.

That day they learned one thing, they didn’t have to go through the consequences alone.

 

and that’s a wrap.

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest I don't know how I feel about this baby, but I really enjoyed making it. I didn't mention Dave or Dolores because I didn't know how, so I didn't want to force it okay thanks for reading ily.  
> P.S: i recently discovered that I know one of the scenes of the show by heart. I don't know if I should feel proud or ashamed.


End file.
